


Home for the Holidays

by Bara_no_Uta



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Party, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 02:58:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9103501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bara_no_Uta/pseuds/Bara_no_Uta
Summary: Lena has spent holidays alone at her desk since she was sent to boarding school, but when Kara is patrolling on Christmas day and discovers Lena alone in her office, that's about to change.All of it is new to Lena. Kara has built this family, and Lena had never felt so poignantly what exactly she had been missing for so long until now. But it's okay. She isn't alone anymore.





	1. Christmas Day

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is... a few days late. I had the idea on Christmas Eve and started writing, but somehow it ended up being far longer than I initially thought it would be and of course my writing time was limited with the holidays. I've split it into three chapters because I figured that's easier to read than a 8700 word oneshot.

            ‘Twas the day of Christmas, and all through L-Corp, not a creature was stirring…

except Lena.

            All her employees were at their homes, with family, with friends. She always gave them the days and weekends of holidays off. She wasn’t going to make them suffer just because _she_ had no one to spend the day with. Jess always looked at her with sad eyes, knowing from the work that was always accomplished after holidays that Lena was spending them alone at the office, but she had no way of objecting since she had her family to spend it with.

            So Lena was in her office, alone.

            What else was new?

            Sure, her mother was in prison. But it wasn’t like she would have spent it with her anyway. Lillian hadn’t even bothered with obligatory cards in a while.

            No one bothered to wish her a merry Christmas. No one had in years. Nobody cared. She wasn’t feeling sorry for herself – she was being _realistic_. The last time she had spent a holiday with her family was before she had been shipped off to boarding school. Even back then, it was nothing that special. Being dragged to fancy social parties in uncomfortable clothes and shoes and being told she had better make a good impression. Their cooks would make a nicer meal than usual, though half the time she and Lex ate it alone. The holidays were also always a clear reminder of how much more their mother loved Lex and of how her dark hair was a clashing difference from the three blondes in their fancy Christmas cards, but at least when they were alone she and Lex could play and she didn’t feel alone anymore. She knew that he loved her.

            It was at boarding school that she got into the habit of working through the holidays. She would sit at her desk in her room, studying hard. Partially for a distraction and partially because she saw her intelligence as possibly her only good trait, and maybe if she honed it enough, she would finally be worthy of something.

            The dorms were always all but empty. The kids who had parents who loved them got to go home. At least Lex would call her. He would always apologize, try to downplay the good parts of his day for her. In the early years she would cry and sometimes even ask him why their mother didn’t love her. Why nobody wanted her.

            _He_ loved her, he would always say.

            Look how that had turned out.

            She decided to stop that train of thought right there. She was trying to get work done, because she could at least do _something_ with her holiday. It was a chance to catch up while everybody else spent the day doing other things.

            She wondered what Kara was doing. Was she spending the day with her adoptive family? Lena hoped so. She hoped Kara’s holidays were full of all the warmth and love she had never experienced. Kara deserved that.

            It didn’t even cross her mind to feel hurt that Kara didn’t invite her or even wish her a merry Christmas. Who wanted a Luthor in the way of their celebration?

* * *

 

            There was still some time before the food is ready, because not _everything_ could be cooked instantly with heat vision. Kara wanted to spend it relaxing with everyone –the group had expanded again, now including Maggie – but it had been snowing heavily for an hour and she had heard sirens wail by twice by that point.

            Alex saw Kara’s worried glance out the window. “It’s okay. If you want to go patrol a while, I can call you when food’s ready,” she said when Maggie wasn’t in earshot. Thankfully, things had been fixed between her and Eliza now. The old wounds hadn’t disappeared, because things were never that easy, but at least she knew her mother loved and supported her too.

            “Okay. Tell Maggie I’m, uhh…”

            Please, like Kara was going to be the one to come up with a passable excuse? Alex smiled, amused. “I’ll come up with something.”

            “Thanks.”

            Kara left the building normally, because she hadn’t gotten the chance yet to tell Maggie she was Supergirl. Once outside, she took off into the air. She listened for screeching tires, sounds of pain or fear, emergency vehicle sirens… Mostly, she heard a lot of contented heartbeats, laughter, chatter, and television specials.

            It was mostly by coincidence that she ended up near L-Corp, but when she did, she saw a single room illuminated. She recognized the balcony immediately. Concerned what was taking place, she used her x-ray vision to look inside without being seen herself.

            Lena was sitting at her desk doing paperwork. Alone.

            Her heart sunk as she realized that this was Lena’s first holiday with her mother in prison. Her mother _and_ her brother, and Kara had no idea whether she had a father even in the picture.

            She had to do something. She couldn’t let Lena spend the holiday _alone,_ at _work_. Without hesitation, she texted Alex, “ _Could you set another place at the table?_ ” before using her superspeed to go in search of a gift for Lena. She couldn’t turn up empty-handed or it would be obvious it was a spur of the moment decision to invite her. Flowers were an obvious choice – plumerias, naturally. She got a bouquet of them and the florist arranged them for her. How she would wrap them, she didn’t know, but she would get to that later.

            Alex had texted her back, agreeing to her request and asking who was coming. “ _Lena_ ” was all she wrote back. She wanted to get more gifts for Lena, because the idea of Lena having a grand total of one present for Christmas was far, far too sad. But what could she get as gifts for somebody who could probably afford to buy entire _stores_ if she wanted to?

            In the end, she decided on some things and rushed back to her apartment. “Eliza, could you please wrap these?” she asked, setting an armful of things down and pointing to the box of wrapping supplies that still hadn’t been put away. “To Lena, from Kara.” She would do it herself, but she wanted to get back to L-Corp as soon as she could and she was sure that if she used superspeed she would end up tearing the paper.

            Eliza had suspected since around Thanksgiving that Kara had feelings for Lena, whose eyes Kara had apparently enjoyed gazing deeply into, and now she was quite sure of it. Not that Kara wasn’t one to go all-out for Christmas in the first place – the decorations they were surrounded by and the tree that she still couldn’t figure out how Kara got inside were proof of that – but there was something different about this. For one, the bouquet… “Of course, Sweetie. I’ll text you when I’m finished.” In other words, Kara would know if she needed to delay Lena.

            “Thank you!” Without giving anyone else the chance to say anything, she hurried back out the door, just barely keeping herself at a regular human speed.

* * *

 

            The last thing Lena expected was a knock at her door. Before she could say anything, the door opened, which meant she knew exactly who it was. Not many people would just waltz into her office. Then again, she wasn’t complaining. With anyone else, she would, definitely. With Kara, it was endearing.

            “Hey,” Kara greeted. She came closer to Lena’s desk, slight fidgeting giving away her nerves.

            Lena couldn’t stop herself from smiling at her. Even when she was feeling badly, Kara’s presence always brought that out. She teased, “Writing an article about how CEOs spend their Christmases?” On second thought, it really wasn’t funny. Oh well, if Kara asked she could explain it as Christmas not having ever been a particularly big thing in her household. That was true, after all.

            She winced a little, thinking about her last ‘interview’ with Lena. Yeah, the faster they moved away from that topic the better. “No, um… no articles. Or interviews. But I am interested in your plans for the day?”

            Her smile became difficult to maintain. All she could do was attempt to downplay it. “Oh, you know. Catching up on some paperwork.”

            Her hands fidgeted, and she looked away for a moment. “Would you like to spend it with me? I mean, at my apartment—um, my family will be there—you won’t really know anyone there except me, so it’s okay if you’re not comfortable, just, um…” She took a breath and looked into her eyes. “If you wouldn’t be too uncomfortable, I would like it if you spent it with me.”

            Lena’s eyes shone. Kara wanted to spend Christmas with her. “Are you sure it would be okay with your family?” she asked, almost afraid to believe the invitation could really be extended to her with no strings, no roadblocks, no ulterior motives…

            “Of course.” Her smile was soft. “I’m sure they’ll love you.”

            All she could do for a few seconds was to look at Kara. No one loved a Luthor, she wanted to say. No one loved _her_.

            And yet the way Kara was looking at her threatened to rewrite everything she had ever known.

            She stood, paperwork completely forgotten about, and went to Kara. “So,” she said, joking but voice thick with emotion, “did you fly here on the bus again?”

            “Uh- um- nope, no flying! On the bus! Just regular… old bus…” She cleared her throat. “Speaking of, what time is it?” she asked, mostly looking for an excuse to look at her phone and make sure Eliza was ready. She saw a text from her and took a peek.

            “ _I look forward to meeting Lena_ ,” it said.

            Lena was still beaming. “We don’t need to take the bus. I have a car. –Normally I have a driver but I prefer not to make people work on holidays if I can help it.”

            Kara’s eyes met Lena’s again, thinking about how Lena seemed to prioritize the holiday for others and yet had been going to spend it alone herself. She assumed that to be because of Lillian’s imprisonment, although as she thought about it, from what she knew, she wondered if Lena had had a happy holiday since Lex’s crimes began. “Do you have any Christmas traditions? I bet we could do them, if that wouldn’t be too weird or anything.”

            Her only Christmas tradition was being alone at a desk. Not one she cared to mention. “Other than the socialite parties, my family never did much for holidays.”

            Most of the Danvers’ traditions were around decorating, so they had already been done, but… “Well, from now on you can be a part of ours. If you want to, of course.”

            Kara was speaking for people other than herself, and Lena didn’t want to force them to accept. She hoped they would like her, but she didn’t really anticipate that to be the case. Not to mention that she wasn’t about to count on Kara sticking around that long. No one ever did. “I would like that,” she confessed anyway.

            “Okay.” She smiled, deciding it was a plan. She would have to come up with something, but she was determined. They would have something that would be ‘their thing’ to do every year, like the Danvers’ Christmas cards growing up, Kara being allowed to float up to put the star on top of the tree, watching cliché holiday movies together… Oh! She had an idea. She grinned. “Can we stop at a grocery store? I just thought of something we definitely need.”

            _Anything for you._ “Of course.”


	2. Christmas Dinner

            Kara and Lena arrived, Kara hauling hugely overstuffed grocery bags that she refused to let Lena know the contents of. Lena had offered to help her carry them, but Kara had refused the help. Secretly aware of Kara’s superpowers, she didn’t particularly fight it, knowing it would be effortless for her.

            Lena looked around, crossing her arms and suddenly feeling self-conscious as she looked around the room. There were so many people here that she felt overwhelmed, and almost a little small as she was sure she was intruding. Why would such a large, clearly close group want an outsider there?

            As soon as Kara sat the bags down – which prompted some raised eyebrows from the others – she put a hand on Lena’s arm, seeing that she was uneasy. “Sorry, I guess I forgot to tell you how many people were going to be here…”

            _No, I’m happy you have so many people to spend it with,_ she didn’t say because of the others present. _I’m happy you don’t spend it alone like I have_. Instead, she just managed a smile. “No, I’m happy to meet everyone.”

            The others were already at the table, so Eliza started bringing out food. Kara was pleased to note that Alex was sober this time.

            There were two open seats. Kara let Lena choose first, resulting in Lena sitting between her and Alex.

            “Maybe we should start with introductions?” Eliza suggested, mostly for Lena’s sake. Everyone else here already knew each other, but she didn’t want to single her out. “I’m Eliza, Alex and Kara’s mother.” Adoptive, in the case of Kara, but she wasn’t sure how much Lena knew and saying it seemed like Kara’s place more than hers. Besides, as far as she was concerned, adopted or not, Kara was her daughter.

            Lena smiled softly, a tinge of sadness to it. Kara had mentioned being adopted on the way there, since she was referring to Eliza by name, but Eliza didn’t make a point of mentioning it. From the little she had heard and seen, it seemed like Kara had gotten very lucky with her family. Lena was happy for her.

            Eliza looked at Winn and James, leaving it to them to decide who would go next, as it made the most sense to her for them to go around the table.

            “I’ll go,” Winn volunteered. “I’m Winn. Kara and I have been friends for a long time from CatCo.”

            Lena looked at him with curiosity. She had been there a couple of times but hadn’t seen him. “Are you a reporter there too?”

            “No, I actually switched jobs—” He could _feel_ Alex’s glare. “Uh, now I actually work for…”

            “The FBI,” Alex said. At the exact same time as he said “Microsoft” and James said “video game development.”

            “Right,” Winn said, knowing there was no way he could play off that disaster. “I work in software and stuff.”

            Lena just nodded. If she hadn’t known Kara was Supergirl, she might have been hurt by the knowledge they were keeping something from her, but she was sure it was something related. Much like how she was pretty positive Alex didn’t actually work for the FBI. She suspected that wherever Alex actually worked for, Winn worked in the same place.

            Mon-El was next. Alex just knew this was going to be a disaster. “I’m Mo—” Impressively, Alex managed to kick him from where she sat. “ _Mike_. I am Mike. Kara and I met at a very long story that I don’t think they want me to tell.”

            Alex groaned and decided to get some wine after all, as Maggie just shook her head in amusement.

            Thankfully, Maggie had nothing to hide, though she waited for Alex’s permission before outing her. “Is it okay?” she asked, proceeding only when Alex nodded, albeit while pouring herself a full glass of wine. “I’m Maggie, a detective with the NCPD. I know Kara because I’m dating her sister.”

            Winn couldn’t hide his surprise, but also excitement for her. “So you WERE into that Maggie person?? This is the Maggie person??”

            Alex’s cheeks tinged pink. “Yes,” was all she said before taking another drink of wine. Thankfully there was nothing else for her to come out about. And hopefully with Lena here, they wouldn’t have to deal with the… Guardian thing. “I’m Alex. We’ve met before.”

            The truth was, Alex still wasn’t sure whether they could trust Lena. The closer her and Kara got, the more wary she felt, so… she was skeptical. Maybe it was just her being a protective big sister.

            Lena was used to it, though. “I’m Lena. Kara… is…” How could she possibly encompass how much her friendship with Kara meant to her in a single word? Her voice was soft as she decided upon, “…a very dear friend to me. And thank you for having me.”

            Kara reached over to take Lena’s hand subtly under the table, giving it a small squeeze. There was no need for her to introduce herself, but she smiled at Lena. “And you’re very important to me, and I’m really glad you agreed to come over.”

            The tenderness to Kara’s smile caused James and Maggie to raise their eyebrows. James looked at Eliza, who smiled knowingly – happy for her daughter, considering how obvious it was that Lena felt the same way – while Maggie looked at Alex, who had suddenly downed the entirety of her glass and was busying herself pouring another. It all went unnoticed to Lena and Kara, who appeared lost in each other’s gazes and smiles.

            After wondering if that would go on forever if uninterrupted, James cleared his throat. “I’m James Olsen. Kara and I met when I was a photographer at CatCo, but for now I’m the CEO.”

            And that brought them back around to Eliza, who smiled warmly. “And Lena, we’re very happy to have you here. Kara has told me a lot about what an amazing young woman you are; I’m glad to finally get the chance to meet you.”

            Lena looked at Kara, wondering what she had told Eliza that had possibly led the woman to think her amazing. Then again, it was through the filter of Kara, who always saw the best in people…

            Kara just kept smiling at her, because in her eyes, Lena was one of the most amazing people she knew.

            Even Winn caught on, looking at James. Kara had told him she wasn’t gay and he believed her, particularly with her crush on James. But her feelings for James had inexplicably fizzled out and the way she was looking at Lena was… far from heterosexuality.

            Little did he know, both were true. Kara was pansexual.

            “Let’s eat before the food gets cold,” Eliza suggested, because there was only so long they could watch Lena and Kara make really obvious heart eyes at each other before it felt intrusive, and they had already passed that point. Once everybody had gotten food, she asked, “The Danvers have never been religious, but Lena, does your family usually say grace? Or Maggie?” She had met Maggie before going home after Thanksgiving, but they hadn’t shared a meal yet.

            Lena knew Eliza was trying to make her feel comfortable, and she appreciated it, even if anything that involved bringing up her family had the opposite effect. “We’ve never been religious either.”

            Maggie shook her head. “I don’t.”

            “Alright, then let’s eat.” Eliza started to do so.

            They ate in relative silence a while, broken by the occasional compliment toward the cooking.

            It was Mon-El who spoke up. “From what I’ve seen, this is a customary question on this planet when a man and a woman meet—”

            Wine glass zero, Alex three.

            “—so Lena, are you mating with anyone?”

            Lena and Alex simultaneously choked on their beverages.

            Winn was the one to speak up and attempt to save the conversation. He thumped Mon-El on the back. “Oh, Mike, you jokester! Such a big Star Wars geek he tries to pretend he’s from another planet sometimes! Hahaha, isn’t that funny, haha—”

            James’ _look_ cut him off.

            “I’m not really a fan of history, actually,” Mon-El said, “but I do know about the war between Dax—”

            Kara spoke up loudly enough to force him to stop. “I remember when Alex and I watched the trilogy!”

            “ _Way_ better than those rom-coms you made me watch,” Alex said, easily sliding into a bantering change of conversation.

            “Guess what holiday movie we’re watching tomorrow?” Kara asked, mischievous.

            “AGAIN??”

            Lena had little idea what was going on anymore, but she couldn’t help it: She started to laugh. Sincere, amused laughter due to happiness and enjoyment. When was the last time she had honestly laughed like that? She couldn’t even remember.

            It was brief, but apparently enough to cause the entire table to look at her. Self-consciousness began to creep up on her again, but she tried to keep a smile as she shook her head. “I apologize. This is just— _nice_.”

            Kara smiled, reaching for Lena’s hand again. “You don’t need to apologize,” she said for all of them.

            Nobody objected and Lena felt warm. She looked away, eyes shining again as she smiled. She knew it wasn’t hers, but she felt… like she had a _family_.

            She never quite knew how that felt until now.

            Kara squeezed Lena’s hand, a little worried. Lena was smiling, but she also looked like she was about to cry.

            Alex understood, on some level, what Lena was going through. Feeling cared about after having felt alone – which, with Lex and Lillian in prison, she was sure Lena had. Her heart softened toward Lena. She also suspected however that Lena wouldn’t want to cry ten minutes into Christmas dinner around people she had known for not much longer than that, so she decided to throw her a lifeline. “Mom, you were telling me before about the project you were working on?”

            Eliza smiled, understanding what Alex was doing for Lena. Distracting her, and prying everyone’s gazes from her. She began to explain the project she was working on in the lab, trying to more or less simplify terms since she knew for a fact not everyone present had the same background in science.

            To Eliza’s surprise and joy, Lena seemed to completely understand the project, asking thought-provoking questions that indicated not only scientific knowledge but a keen intellect and intellectual curiosity.

            Kara was pretty lost in the conversation, but as she watched Lena, Eliza, and Alex in an in-depth discussion, she certainly wasn’t going to complain. Lena looked so happy, and the walls that Alex had maintained between them seemed to have fallen. Lena looked like a part of the family.

            The conversation went on a while, until Eliza handed the conversation over to James, asking how things were going over at CatCo. He talked about the difficulties of suddenly becoming CEO, and while she didn’t interrupt, that was certainly something Lena could relate to.

            Inevitably, this led to her being asked about L-Corp. She knew they were just trying to get to know her. It was just an unfortunate fact that the process of doing so was filled with pitfalls. She chose her discussion topic carefully. “One of the projects I’ve been working on is to develop something that can be used to counter the guns Cadmus was using before. Right now, it’s only in the theoretical stages – before anything gets built, I need to ensure I have measures in place to make sure nothing gets into the wrong hands. I was able to create a device to nullify the rays before, but in terms of practicality… it would be better if Supergirl and her allies had something that could be activated quickly and easily.

            “Of course, unfortunately, I have no idea whether they’re going to return in that direction or try something else. I have no more access to that information than anyone else, and I’m sure they won’t fall for the same trick twice.” Lena stopped as she realized how long she had been talking and offered a sheepish, “I didn’t mean to talk your ears off.”

            “No, it’s really interesting,” Eliza assured her. “I’m sure you know more about how it works in the business world than I do, but if you ever need help writing a grant proposal… university labs live off them, so I may be able to lend a hand.”

            She smiled as she tried to truly process the offer that had just been extended. An offer of help which… maybe didn’t ask for anything in return. No one else did that for her and she wasn’t sure she could trust her understanding. Now wasn’t the time to ask what Eliza might want, however. “Thank you. I’m not entirely sure what the future holds where that is concerned… Funding has been in flux ever since I took over the company. Needless to say, most withdrew their willingness to work with or invest in L-Corp following Lex’s terrorism, and the ones who didn’t were mostly not anyone _I_ wanted to work with.”

            “In other words, you’ve had to rebuild it from the ground up.”

            “All but. That’s also not even including the many other changes that had to be made. Changing the face of a company, particularly to perhaps the complete opposite, is far easier said than done. Add to that a lack of public trust… Even among those who see past the name Luthor, some people have an unfortunate perception that I’m either too young or too _female_ to run a company.”

            Eliza nodded in understanding. Back when she was in college, her interest in the sciences was often brushed off. Her first advisor, when she said she wanted to major in biology, had the gall to suggest that maybe she should _teach_ science.

            Poor Mon-El had no idea what was going on. He didn’t even know what ‘Luthor’ was supposed to mean. Seeing that he appeared a bit lost, Lena decided to turn the conversation to him. “So, Mike, how is your… internship going?”

            “Oh, I quit,” he said easily.

            _Oh, Rao, this could be a disaster_ , Kara thought.

            “It can be hard to find our callings sometimes,” Lena sympathized, although truthfully she had never been allowed the luxury of exploration in that regard. “Are you looking into anything at the moment?”

            “Well, I still would like to explore the place known as a ‘stri—’”

            Kara cut him off sharply. “ ** _Mike._** ”

            “What?”

            “We- Just- Ask Winn later!”

            “What? Me?!” Winn gawked. He was pretty sure that Kara was now setting him up to have to explain to an alien what a _strip club_ was. Specifically, to an alien who thought… many different things that were going to make that a very uncomfortable conversation.

            Alex spoke loud enough that her voice carried above everyone else. “That was delicious, Mom, thanks—let’s open presents now!” As in, anything to end this conversation, before one of the people here ended up completely blowing _everybody’s_ cover. She was starting to take a liking to Lena, but that didn’t mean she wanted to explain that she and Winn worked for the DEO – which would entail explaining what that was to begin with – Mike was an alien, and by the way, Kara was not only an alien but also Supergirl. Suddenly Kara didn’t even seem like a terrible liar anymore by comparison.

           Eliza looked around, seeing that everybody seemed mostly finished. “That sounds like a good idea,” she said, understanding Alex’s intention.

            “Presents?” Kara asked, perking up like a happy puppy. She couldn’t wait for everyone to unveil what she had gotten them.


	3. Christmas Traditions

            The exchange of presents had been time-consuming, to say the least, thanks to the number of people. Kara’s gaze was fixated on Lena as she watched her open the presents she had gotten her.

            First were the flowers. Eliza had put them in a vase, so it was pretty obvious they were flowers, but it wasn’t until she opened them that Lena saw what kind. “You remembered?” Lena confirmed with a small smile as she looked at Kara. It seemed to her like it had been such a small comment, and yet Kara remembered it.

            “Of course I did,” was all she could say.

            And then… a ridiculously cute stuffed tiger. She honestly _blushed_ , because it was so not something she would normally have even thought to get for herself, nor was it even something she would have wanted to get for herself. But somehow, receiving it from Kara, it was perfect. Maybe because _Kara_ was perfect.

            Kara blushed as well, seeing Lena’s reaction. “I-I wasn’t sure, but, I saw her and she kind of reminded me of you, so…”

            Lena turned the tiger around to face her, looking into its eyes. Or ‘her’ eyes, apparently. Though unable to hide her smile, she quirked an eyebrow at Kara, wondering how she could possibly resemble such an adorable thing to her absolute puppy of a friend.

            She grinned and came closer, holding the tiger so that it was right next to Lena’s head. She looked at Alex and Maggie. “You see it, right?”

            “Hmm,” Maggie looked something up on her phone, then came closer, holding her phone up next to Kara’s head. Displayed was a picture of a golden retriever puppy.

            Eliza managed to get a picture of the three of them, moments before Alex, Maggie, Winn, and James started laughing – then, she got a picture of that.

            “What? What are you…?” Kara asked, trying to twist around to see Maggie’s phone.

            Lena moved a bit in front of Kara so that she could see it, then laughed. “My thoughts _exactly_.”

            Finally, Kara got to see the golden retriever puppy. She gave a mock pout. “Okay, but you agree with me right?” she asked, holding up the tiger again.

            Maggie looked at the tiger, then at Lena, and back again, pretending to be deep in thought. Finally, she grinned. “I kinda see what you’re talking about.”

            “But it’s so _cute_ ,” Lena said, a little confused as she accepted it back from Kara. It wasn’t that she didn’t realize she was attractive, but _cute_ wasn’t really the word she would have thought to use.

            Kara, honest as ever, just beamed. “Exactly. And, you know, cool, and beau—well—the—the tiger is a lot of things—…” She had started out confident, but got more and more shy and flustered as she attempted to continue.

            She wanted to kiss her on the cheek. If it had just been the two of them, she would have, but with the eyes of Kara’s entire family on her, she opted just to reach out and give her hand a squeeze. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

            Maggie moved to sit back next to Alex, and Lena reluctantly moved her hand from Kara’s. There were still two more gifts; Lena was starting to feel self-conscious again. Four presents, and from the two she had seen so far, they were truly heartfelt. She had received plenty of material things growing up, but never gifts like these.

            The next present was a huge box of chocolate. She recognized the name of the shop, written on the top of the box, and looked to Kara, once again surprised. She had made an offhand comment once over lunch about the chocolate shop that had opened recently, and how she hoped to have time soon to go try some of their chocolate. And Kara had remembered.

            “I know it’s not the same as if we— _when_ we go there, but I know it’s hard for you to get away from work during the daytime, so I thought…” She fidgeted with her hands. “And plus, then when we go, you’ll already know your favorites?”

            Alex suppressed a laugh. Everybody except Kara, including Lena, knew Kara was going to end up the one to eat _at least_ half of it. Because Kara loved food, and it was just about impossible to say no to her. And sure, Kara wouldn’t _mean_ to eat over half the box, but ‘Can I have one’ could all too easily be responded to with ‘Help yourself’ or something similar by the unknowing, and then Kara would keep telling herself ‘Just one more’ and not realize how many she had eaten.

            And Lena, well. She actually knew all too well, from the days Kara would bring over pastries to share for lunch and ended up eating almost all of them herself. Lena didn’t care, though. She would rather see how happy Kara was eating them than to have them herself. She could get pastries whenever she wanted. Quality time with Kara was unfortunately not always possible.

            The last gift caused Lena to blush again. It was a necklace in a warm shade of gold, and there was a picture of a dove on it. Was this actual gold? How much had Kara spent on these things? Money wasn’t an issue for Lena herself, but she was well aware that it was for many. “Kara, you didn’t have to…”

            Lena was more sentimental that Kara would have ever expected. She smiled, reaching over and gently closing Lena’s hand over the necklace before Lena had time to finish the sentence. She _wanted_ to, she hoped it communicated. “It’s a locket. I don’t know if—I mean, but, in case you ever want to—so you know it’s there.”

            Reaching into her bag, Lena pulled out a present, this time from her to Kara. She wished now she had done more, but she hadn’t known if Kara was planning on getting her anything and didn’t want to make things awkward. “It’s not much, but I saw this and thought of you,” she said, though instantly embarrassed. She had assumed she would give the gift to Kara alone in her office, and that she would be the one to bring up the holiday, and… yeah, she might have practiced how she was going to bring it up and present it.

            Might have. A few times.

            Kara opened it and saw a necklace, very similar in shape to the one she had gotten Lena, but instead of a dove, most of the front was covered by an elaborate picture of the sun. She beamed. “It’s _beautiful_ , Lena.”

            _So are you._ She smiled, uncharacteristically shy, particularly in front of everybody. “It’s also a locket.”

            “Can you…?” Kara’s hair was mostly down, a small braided crown around the top, and she moved it from the back of her neck.

            Lena’s heartbeat sped, and she tried not to think about the fact that she was pretty sure Kara could hear that. “Of course.” Her mouth was dry as she accepted the locket from Kara’s hand. She had no trouble putting it around her, but it was kind of a surprise to her that she was able to summon the dexterity to fasten it.

            When she felt Lena release the necklace, she smiled and let her hair fall back down. “Want me to do you too?”

            Maggie had to bite her lip to resist laughing at the blush that crossed Lena’s cheeks.

            “The necklace, yes, I would appreciate that,” she managed, sounding far more composed than she felt. She had never been treated like this before. The way Kara was so sweet and that never-ending _caring_ , and just… having a friend was already a fairly foreign thing to her, but one like Kara was exceptional for anyone. And that was even before factoring in her _other_ feelings for Kara…

            Kara accepted the necklace from Lena, then turned her attention to Lena’s hair, which she didn’t want to tangle. She ran her hands through it a couple of times as she moved it over Lena’s shoulder, completely unable to see from her position the way Lena bit her lip at the feeling.

            Lena was acutely aware of every time Kara’s hands so much as brushed against her neck, and she tried desperately to quell the thoughts that she didn’t really want to be having five feet from Kara’s _mother_.

            “Thank you,” Lena murmured when Kara had finished, voice just slightly breathy.

            Kara’s hearing picked up every note of difference in Lena’s speech, the small changes to her heartbeat and breathing. She looked away, blushing as she stammered a “You’re welcome.”

            “Didn’t know both the Danvers sisters are gay,” Maggie whispered to Alex, unaware that Kara could hear her.

            Alex wanted to say ‘we aren’t,’ because Kara had never told her, and Kara would have told her by now if she was gay, right? But looking at Kara with Lena, all she could think of to say was, “Neither did I.”

            Kara cleared her throat, pulling away from Lena. “So, uh- This was great, everyone!” She adjusted her glasses nervously. “Does anyone want more food?” She glanced to the table, where there were still more than enough leftovers. Not that she couldn’t eat it all herself, of course, but that wouldn’t feel right. “Or leftovers. Definitely take some leftovers.”

            Winn was the first to help himself to a container and begin filling it with leftovers, used to the Danvers family holidays by now. Lena was slower, hanging back with Kara to observe a while before Kara gave her a tiny nudge and asked,

            “Don’t want any leftovers?”

            She hesitated. “I’m not used to taking other people’s food,” she explained, a little sheepish. It was obviously okay with Kara, but it felt strange to just grab it. Too many holiday parties where the food was supposed to be freely offered, but where there were too many unwritten rules for a little girl to possibly decipher on her own. “I’m not sure of the etiquette.”

           Kara smiled. “No etiquette. Just get a container or two and take the food you want! Eliza always makes a ton, so there’s more than enough. And I mean, I _can_ eat it all by myself, but that’s not fair.”

            “Thank you.” A hesitant smile. When Kara gave a gesture indicating she could go ahead, she took a container and started putting food from the table into it.

            When they were finished gathering the food they wanted, everyone pitched in to help clean up. Alex put the remaining leftovers into the fridge and Maggie handed the dishes to Lena, who washed them. Winn dried the dishes and Kara put them away. Eliza taught Mon-El about recycling and helped him clean up the mess of wrapping paper and ribbons while James did some other general tidying.

            It would have surprised many to see a Luthor with her sleeves rolled up washing dishes like any normal person. Growing up, she had never done this – it was always left to the housekeepers, and the curious little girl was always pushed away and told it was no place for young ladies like herself. But in her apartment, she took care of things herself. Lena doing the dishes was really nothing out of the ordinary.

            But there was something special about this. Everybody pitching in, cleaning up _together_.

            Lena had only known most of these people for a couple of hours, and yet this… felt like family.

            She never knew quite what she had been lacking all herself until that moment.

            What it was like to have a real family.

            Once everything was cleaned up and everyone had their leftovers in tow, the goodbyes began. Most everyone would be seeing each other the next day or not long after, so it wasn’t all that drawn out. Still, there were a few who told Lena it was nice meeting her and even that they hoped to see her again sometime.

            Eliza hung back. She was staying at a hotel nearby as neither of her daughters had a guest bedroom, but there was something she wanted to say. Lena hung back as well. She wanted to thank Kara properly, but hoped to do it alone. But when it was just the three of them, Eliza approached her.

            “It was really wonderful meeting you.”

            “You, too, Ms. Danvers.” She smiled, sincere and a little nervous.

            She smiled back. “No need to be so formal. ‘Eliza’ is fine.” Eliza reached into her purse and took out a business card. A little impersonal perhaps, but it had the necessary information. “Lena, I can see how much you mean to Kara, and how much she means to you. I want you to know that if you ever need anything – in your business, or just want someone else to talk to – you can always reach out to me.”

            Lena was speechless, unable to formulate a response as Eliza took one hand in both of her own and pressed a business card into it.

            She gave Lena’s hand a small squeeze. “I also want you to know that wherever things may take you and Kara, I would be proud to consider you my daughter.”

            Lena took in a quick breath, trying to fight against the sudden onset of tears as Eliza pulled her into a hug. She couldn’t quite believe it, and she pulled away from the hug only seconds after, long before she was ready to.

            Barely knowing her, Eliza allowed her to pull away. “You can call or text me anytime.”

            She nodded, a silent promise. “I’ll text you soon. So you’ll have my number.” Would she actually reach out to Eliza? She hadn’t decided that yet. Maybe she would. On the pretense of discussing some professional matter, she decided. Maybe to ask about how that project was going. “Thank you, Eliza.”

            Eliza gave her one last warm smile before saying goodbye to Kara. After the two of them had said their goodbyes and Eliza left, Kara looked to Lena, who seemed to be looking out the window, her arms crossed.

            “Everything okay?” she asked, coming closer.

            Lena nodded, though she was barely keeping back tears. She felt overwhelmed. “Thank you for inviting me.”

            “I’m glad you came.” She chewed on her lower lip a little. “I actually had another thing I wanted to do, just us, but it doesn’t have to be right now.”

            She took a breath. “I would love to, but give me a minute.”

            “Sure.” Kara offered a reassuring smile, though Lena hadn’t looked in her direction yet. She went to sit on the couch, not sure if Lena might need space.

            When Kara moved away, Lena did glance at her, watching her sit. Kara was giving her space without leaving her, and she appreciated that. She waited a bit longer before managing to compose herself, smiling again when she turned to face Kara. “So what did you have in mind?”

            She bounced up from the couch like an excited puppy and led Lena to the kitchen, taking things out of the grocery bags she had gotten earlier, the refrigerator, and the cabinets. Digging through the bags revealed a huge amount of frosting and other decorating supplies. She also grabbed a cookbook full of cookie recipes. “Have you ever made gingerbread houses? Or gingerbread men?”

            “Not that I can recall, no.”

            Kara put everything down on the counter, then turned her attention fully to Lena. “Remember when we were talking about Christmas traditions? And you said you didn’t really have any. So I thought… why not start our own? This year we’re doing it after but maybe starting next year we can do it Christmas Eve, or—Lena?” Her eyes widened as she saw a tear run down Lena’s cheek. “Sorry- Is that too much?”

            She shook her head, though the tears kept falling.

            Kara took a step closer. “What’s wrong?” she asked, realizing Lena had never answered her earlier.

            “Nothing. It’s just that this is all very new to me,” she confessed, voice breaking. She felt silly to cry over such a thing.

            She came closer yet, putting her hands on Lena’s arms. “Will you tell me what Christmas was like for you, growing up?”

            She forced a small laugh. “It might be better to put the milk back away first.” It was her way of saying the conversation might take a while if Kara wanted to go down this route.

            Obediently, she put the milk and eggs back into the refrigerator, then returned to Lena’s side.

            “My family never really… did much for the holidays. We went to social gatherings. The cooks would prepare a special meal for us at home, but usually it was only me and Lex. And after I went to boarding school—I tended to spend them alone. This might sound silly, but this… _family_ … I’ve never had that.” She forced a laugh again, wiping at her cheeks.

            She offered a hug, and when Lena allowed it, she held her close. “I’m sorry. But you do now, and you _always_ will.”

            She had heard so many promises of ‘always’ that turned out to be nothing but words. So why was it that when Kara said it, she believed her? She returned the hug tightly.

            After a few moments Lena gave a small attempt at pulling away, but she was still in tears, so Kara just gave a small squeeze, not letting go. “You’ve got me. You’ve got all of us.”

            The hold was making her feel uneasy now, and she gave a stronger tug. This time Kara let her, and she regretted pulling away, instantly missing the contact. “That means a lot to me.”

            She smiled softly, though concerned. So used to and comfortable with hugs, she couldn’t figure out why Lena had pulled away. “Is it too much?” she asked again.

            “No,” she assured her. “I’m just not used to it.” She took a shaky breath, smiling as her tears came to a stop. “So, gingerbread?” Her smile brightened as she looked at the ingredients.

            Kara grinned. “I thought maybe we could make some gingerbread houses, and gingerbread men – and women, and um, I found some cookie cutters of dogs and cats and things – we could make a gingerbread village!”

            She chuckled. “Kara, you have five bags of sugar… Who’s going to eat all this?”

            “Us,” she said, full of confidence. “And we can share the leftovers, if there are any.”

            “If there are any?” she repeated, surprised. Lena had seen that Kara had quite the appetite, sure, but this was definitely going to be a lot of cookies if they really planned to use all of this.

            Kara just grinned mischievously at her.

            The two of them spent hours baking and decorating gingerbread. Kara placed a plastic tablecloth over the table so that they could set up their little village right there, and so that they didn’t need to worry about cleanup after decorating. Frosting got everywhere, but that was just to be expected.

            Lena found herself covered in frosting and her clothes dusted with flour in several places, and yet she couldn’t care in the slightest. She didn’t think she had laughed this much in—probably her entire life, really. Kara was ridiculous. “What kind of house is that?! It’s just covered in chocolate sprinkles!”

            “It is a beautiful and delicious house,” she answered without hesitation.

            “Fine – then you know who’s going to live there?” She put copious amounts of strawberry frosting on a gingerbread man, then dropped an obscene amount of star-shaped sprinkles all over him. She paused, then looked straight at Kara. “I guess you could say he’s _star-struck_.”

            Kara cracked up. She gathered up some of the stray star sprinkles, said, “ _You’re_ star-struck!” and threw them at Lena.

            “Wha—” Somehow, she only laughed harder. The clean dish towel was within arm’s reach, and she flung it at Kara. It missed spectacularly.

            “Oh, what was that?!” Kara laughed.

            “It was—” She took a gingerbread dog and covered him in dark blue frosting. “—For Alien Dog to pick up.”

            “Alien Dog?? What a name!” She coated a gingerbread man in brown frosting and dropped butterfly sprinkles on him. “I guess he lives with Butterfly Man!”

            “Butterfly—what? Who named him, Batman?”

            “For your information, he’s Batman’s son.”

            “Oh, that makes _perfect_ sense.” She nodded, trying to keep a straight face before she couldn’t help laughing again.

            Soon the entire table was full, even when they moved the houses closer together. They washed the stickiness off their hands in the sink and, while Lena was drying her hands, Kara took a few pictures. As Lena watched, curious, she put two chairs close together and with their backs against the table. She sat in one and motioned Lena to the other.

            Lena obliged, and soon Kara’s arm was around her, pulling her in close. She automatically leaned into Kara, one arm wrapping around her as well.

            Stretching out her free arm, Kara smiled, waiting for Lena to smile as well before taking a selfie of them with as much of the gingerbread village as she could get into the picture.

            “Kara?” she said, her heart speeding.

            “Huh?”

            Lena reached out for the phone, holding it and taking a picture just as she kissed Kara on the cheek.

            “O- _Oh_.” Kara smiled, meeting Lena’s nervous gaze. She put her phone down on her lap before placing a hand on Lena’s cheek, a question in her eyes.

            Lena understood it perfectly and answered by kissing her, one hand tangling in Kara’s hair. She resisted the urge to deepen the kiss, having wanted this and more since the day they met and not wanting to push further than Kara would be comfortable with.

            Kara didn’t know when her feelings for Lena had developed. Just that she had never had a kiss so perfect. It sent electricity through her, and yet at the same time, it felt like home in a way she had never found in a kiss before. She deepened the kiss, arms pulling around Lena’s waist, bringing her closer.

            Eventually, the need for air prompted Lena to pull away. She almost kissed her again, but decided to pull away for now. They probably ought to talk about this. “So you…?”

            She smiled sheepishly, unsure what to say of it.

            “Well, I suppose the least I can do is take you on a proper date.” She hesitated, getting nervous again. “If you want to, that is.”

            “Of course I want to.” She threaded her fingers through Lena’s hair then tucked some of it behind her ear. “When is good for you?”

            Anytime. She would make anytime work for Kara, always. She had rescheduled meetings to spend time with Kara – officially, for ‘an important interview,’ usually – on a couple of occasions already, although admittedly she wasn’t always able to. “Any evening that works for you.” She stopped and added, “Though I know things come up unexpectedly for you at times. I suppose we should factor that in.” Ideally, she would like to take Kara to a fancy restaurant where she could get all the potstickers, ice cream, and anything else her heart desired, and then maybe after they could do something else fun together, though she had thought maybe that was something she and Kara could decide upon together. That said, if Kara had to rush off in the middle of their date for Supergirl duty – which she entirely understood and would never hold against her in any way – something less formal was probably better.

            She wondered how Lena knew that, exactly, although there had been times where she had needed to rush off “to help Alex” or for “an emergency at work” or something similar. “What about a date in? We can order food and watch a movie?”

            “I would like that.”

            Lena had such a tender smile in that moment. Before the moment could be lost, Kara lifted her phone and took a picture, her own smile matching, gazes meeting.

            The next day, when Jess commented on how happy she seemed, Lena just smiled and told her, “I spent Christmas with… friends.” Jess looked so happy for her that she wondered just how pathetic she had seemed spending every holiday alone.

            It didn’t matter. That… was in the past now.

            A little under two months later, for Valentine’s Day, Lena would receive that picture of their tender smiles in a beautiful frame, in addition to a bouquet of roses and chocolate… from her girlfriend, Kara.


End file.
